The World Through Our Lens
Photography of birds we have observed in the wild.
Upon learning of a family of Pied-billed Grebes at South Reesor Pond in northeast Toronto, Bob and I made it our destination for a late afternoon outing in hopes of getting a look at them. What we found were two immature Grebes with a mother whose vocalizations kept the pair in check. Read more
By word of a fellow Facebook member who frequents South Reesor Pond even more often than we do, Bob and I came to know about three young Wood Ducks that recently were relocated to this small body of water in northeast Toronto. We had occasion to photograph mature males and females at High Park in the spring, and very young hatchlings in Rouge National Urban Park a couple of years ago, so we were eager to observe a few juveniles. Read more
Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto is recognized worldwide as a significant habitat for breeding waterbirds, and during the summer months, when fewer songbirds make the Leslie Street Spit their home, birdwatchers will still be rewarded with glimpses into the lives of the colonial species, one of which includes the Black-crowned Night Heron. Read more
The addition of some vibrant red Canna Lilies in my backyard garden this year has had just the result I’d hoped for. Every day, for several weeks in August and early September, I had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird visit my flowers on its trek south. Read more
Tommy Thompson Park on the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto, Ontario, is an amazing destination for anyone who is interested in observing birds, especially during spring migration, but a visit in July was also rewarding for Bob and me when we discovered scores of Double-Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) with their young in the nests. Read more
My dad had been trying for 15 years to woo a pair of Eastern Bluebirds to nest on his property at Oxtongue Lake in Ontario, Canada. Not since the year 2000 had he even seen Eastern Bluebirds in the area. You can imagine how excited he was when a pair showed up in May 2015 and demonstrated interest in one of his homemade nest boxes. Read more
Earlier this year, during spring migration, Bob and I set off to investigate Shell Park along Lakeshore Road West in Oakville, Ontario. Our short visit there was rewarded when we spotted an unusual hummingbird, a Leucistic Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Read more
On a recent day spent cycling along the Waterfront Trail from Scarborough to Ajax, Ontario, Bob and I drew up at a picnic table to have our lunch and rest in the shade. There was lots of bird activity in the thickets of sumac, deciduous trees and shrubs that dotted the wide open space of the trail-side park. When Bob spotted a red and black bird, it took us a few minutes to identify it as an Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius), a Lifer for us. Read more
Because Mizzy Lake Trail in Algonquin Park, in Ontario, visits so many small lakes and ponds, there are ample opportunities along its length to spot wildlife including a variety of waterfowl. One such bird to catch our eye was a Great Blue Heron that was skulking along the edge of a wetland adjacent to the old railway bed upon which a section of the trail is built. Read more